Join Amy, also known as ‘The Sweets Stylist’, on her journey from lawyer to the creator of the stylized dessert bar to celebrity and author. We’ll find out everything we want to know about dessert trends, design elements important to the dessert bars, the client process, how Amy thinks and how she is able to create the client vision. Amy will also speak about design style and color trends.

And…Amy will be doing a live demonstration that will bring all of these design and food choices to life.

This demonstrationn will show floral techniques in creating a grand centerpiece. Using fresh flowers and volunteers from the audience, the artists will walk through the mechanics and design during each step of creation and construction. Come prepared to learn different techniques, the importance of selecting the right stand or vase and how and why certain flowers and accessories are selected.

Research. Discovery. Interaction. The hallmarks of a think tank. This session is your think tank to discover and deal with the challenges of increasing costs in developing and producing events. Aimed to offer insight and ideas for those event planners that work in the “SMERF” markets (Social, Military, Education, Religious, and Fraternal), this is a great opportunity for professionals to share ideas, learn from others’ experiences and develop lasting partnerships to infuse into their own organization and development.

Like Indian weddings today, this session blends the heritage and traditions of Southeast Asia with the new world design and elements of the west. Floral designer Randi Garrett and Therese Cole-Hubbs will transform a session room into a multi-cultural sangeet – the equivalent of an Indian wedding rehearsal dinner. Get design ideas that translate from India to America and back again. Learn more about the significance of certain activities and décor elements. Find out more about trends in menu development, presentation and ingredients, get entertainment ideas that connect the East and West, hear about and see case studies of real American-Indian weddings illustrated with gorgeous photos and get sales tips on how to win over wedding clients. This informative session will give those new to this market a strong foundation to build on and will give veterans advice and trends to take their Indian and multi-cultural weddings to the next level.

This session will take an in-depth look at the legal issues surrounding event industry workers, such as how to determine what classification – employee, independent contractor or intern – is proper for your workers, what types of requirements and restrictions can be placed on each type of worker, special issues pertaining to independent contractors and the event industry, how to properly run an unpaid intern program, what types of business insurance are applicable for each type of worker and more. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and interact during the session.

The greatest asset of your meeting or special event is the guest. In a world where the commodity we trade in is our audience’s attention, are we designing events to meet their needs and desires? Are we actively competing for and providing reqarding experiences worth having or boring our guests right out the door? In this interactive session, we will explore examples of meeting and event producers who haven’t been afraid to break the mold and place the engaged guest at the center of the planning strategy. You’ll examiine real life examples of events that effectively utilize the audience to create value and understand how to use design to engage the audience in this conversational session.

11:00am – 6:00pm

Join us at the Las Vegas Convention Center for the award-winning Tradeshow. Find new suppliers, participate in
hands-on demos and contests, and network with event professionals from around the globe.